Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a nuclear reactor installation comprising a cavity which is lined with a liner and arranged in a prestressed concrete pressure vessel. A high temperature reactor is provided on a circular base plate in the cavity. A plurality of core rods may be inserted into and retracted from an internal space containing spherical fuel elements by means of rod drives; and a plurality of reflector rods may be inserted into and retracted from a side reflector of said reactor by means of rod drives. The spherical fuel elements may be introduced by means of fuel element feeder-tubes and removed by at least one vertical, cooled outlet tube disposed on a base reflector. The nuclear reactor installation also has an annular cylindrical interstitial space formed between a thermal side shield and the liner. The thermal side shield surrounds a side reflector which forms a reactor core. The thermal side shield supports said reflector with radial supports. First heat exchangers, preferably steam generators, are arranged uprightly, aligned with an axial first passage through the roof of the pressure vessel. Said first heat exchangers are also interconnected with first blowers of a gas circulation loop through the nuclear reactor.
Nuclear reactor installations of this type must satisfy particularly high safety requirements. This leads, in the case of known installations, particularly those with high capacity, to very expensive and cost intensive structures. Such added expense holds true for both the prestressed concrete pressure vessel and the development and arrangement of the individual structural elements of the nuclear reactor.